Forum Post: The Power of Fear...

Perhaps a quivering child crawls in the psyche of our slam-your-fist-on-the-table society. Perhaps greed is a symptom more than a disease. It’s the splayed claws of the wounded tiger, the adrenaline of the cornered fugitive, the panic-stricken roar of the captured lion. We’re more fearful than we’re greedy.

Fear stopped me Monday from savoring the dream-come-true of any humble narcissist: A smiling television reporter wafted the microphone and asked me an innocuous question, “Why are you here?” I could now wax eloquent on my reason for joining thirty-five clerics about to march the half mile from Asylum Hill Congregational Church to the “Occupy Hartford” encampment at the junction of Farmington and Asylum avenues. This was my moment, my opportunity, my fifteen seconds of fame … And my overbearing prayer was, “Please God, don’t let the people of my church see this!”

The clerical march was organized by The Rev. Alison J. Buttrick Patton of Simsbury and Bishop John Selders of Hartford – both from the United Church of Christ – after they heard a “shout out” (Patton’s words) calling for church leaders to convene on Monday at 10:30 a.m. in every American city and walk to the nearest Occupy site. A Facebook page declared: “Many of us have been moved by the moral voices for corporate political accountability.” Now was the time to put our best foot forward. Literally.

I heard the feint whispers of fear while the clergy gathered. There was an imam, a Unitarian, and a host from the UCC. I was the lone evangelical. What would my tribal colleagues think? What would these people here think once they learned I was a theological Neanderthal? I knew the whispers were laughable: I mingle among theological liberals all the time and almost always find “them” welcoming. Indeed, Patton took her turn before the reporter and then urged me forward. There I was, being recorded for the evening news in my moment in the sun … and … The whispers blared into screams. I once stumbled over the trip wires of political correctness in a previous congregation and ignited a chain reaction of late-night meetings and subtle charges of anti-patriotism. My current church is far more lenient, but … you never know … I have a wife and a son and a home and a pet rabbit and bills to pay and cars to fix — and then there’s the back porch begging for repair. I can’t afford to lose this job.

The fear wailed again when we began our march. Selders proclaimed: “Let’s walk in the street!” and joked how his church would bail him out. Flashing blue lights, hand-cuffs and jail bars; a wife … a son … bills to pay … back porch … pet rabbit … late-night meetings … anti-patriotism. I bravely strolled on the sidewalk: Mr. Courageous smothered his quivering child …

Read more: http://www.thejeffersontree.com/the-power-of-fear/